Political scientists have been interested for years in Americans’ declining support for
their political system: decline in voter turnout (Stanley and Niemi); decreasing levels of
participation in political parties (Rosenstone and Hansen); low levels of political trust;
and decline in civic engagement (Putnam).
Robert Putnam: Social capital is defined as the connections among individuals—social
networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them.
In Bowling Alone, Putnam names television as one of the culprits in the decline in social
capital. He focuses on the individualizing effects of television—it is more difficult to
socialize with family and friends while watching television as compared to in a bowling
alley and time that could be spent socializing at family dinners or writing letters is spent
instead in front of the television. Since the 1950s, he shows, more people are spending a
greater amount of time watching television. He notes the correlation between the greater
amount of time watching television and a less active and connected role in the
community; he attributes this to the individualizing effects of the medium of television.
I am interested in studying if there is a correlation between the steady of decline of
community participation and trust (social capital) since the 1960s and changes in the style
and content of television news.
I will look at
 Differences in news framing
 Differences in the types of stories covered in the 1960s up to the early 1990s.
 Examining closely the news coverage of political events including Vietnam,
Watergate, and the civil rights movement.
For my government thesis, I would like to examine the change in the content and style of
television programs from the 1950s to the 1990s in the context of explaining the decline
in social capital and political participation. The fact that more people are spending more
time watching television is a valid explanation of why America has experienced a decline
in participation levels; however, I think that a change in television medium might also
account for the current problem in social capital. I would first like to compare television
news to see if a change in how news has been covered could be correlated with
decreasing trust and participation. Changes in the content and style of news
programming on TV from the 1950s and 1990s may have turned individuals off to
forming social networks and participating in the community and may perhaps explain the
generational differences in social capital that Putnam documents (the younger generations
are more likely to spend more time watching television and less likely to engage in
community activities). Differences in news framing, the different types of stories focused
on, and changes in the details of the news may be correlated with changes in participation
and trust. Of course, television news may not provide an adequate explanation of the
decline in social capital. In the article “Does Television Erode Social Capital? A Reply
to Putnam,” Pippa Norris reveals that although there is a negative correlation between the
amount of television watched and the time spent participating in political and community
activities, the attack on television is still very weak. She shows that individuals who
watch television news, particularly current affairs programs such as Nightline, spend
more time active in politics and in their communities (477). Putnam acknowledges this
subtlety; however, he does not provide an answer to the more complex question. Is it
possible that a change in how news is covered on television cannot explain the decline in
social capital?
<!-- Given this situation, I will also want to examine other types of programming on
television. More helpful results might be yielded if I tracked the changes in popular
entertainment shows over the past 50 years. I would look at the changes in the popularity
of different types of programming (e.g., situation comedies, “reality” shows, soap operas,
and game shows), changes in the themes of the popular shows, and the evolution of
values that television programming portray. Have the themes and values of the programs
changed since the 1950s and how might this change explain the decline of trust and
participation in America? I think that examining the possible changes in the style and
content of television news will be important; however, because of the discrepancy of
community and political participation between people who watch television in general
and people who watch mostly the news, differences in television news programming may
not be related to the decline in social capital—I will have to look farther and examine
other types of television programming.-->
In examining television content and social capital, I think that one important point
for me to consider is whether my findings result from media effect or selection effect: is
the decline in social capital due to the change in television content or is the change in
television content just a reflection of a population with declining social capital due to
another reason. Without controlled experiments, I do not think that I will be able to
verify either effect; however, each effect must still be considered and will be important to
how I report my findings and write my paper.
I will use Vanderbilt’s television news archive to view TV news from 1968 to the
present.